BIRD OF PARADISE.

concerning the Birds of Paradise are in part to be ascribed to the desire of the inhabitants of those islands in which they are found to increase the value of their skins as an article of merchandise; and a sort of sacred character being attached to them, they were employed not merely for ornament, but as a charm to secure the life of the wearer against the dangers of battle. The people of Ternate call them Manuco-Dewata, or Birds of God; which name Buffon modified into Manucode. In different languages they are known by names signifying Birds of the Air, Birds of the Sun, etc.

The males alone are birds of splendid plumage, that of the females possessing neither brilliancy of colors nor remarka2 development. The plumage of the males is not only

Bird of Paradise (Paradisea apoda)-male.

characterized by great brightness of tints, but by a glossy velvety appearance, a metallic lustre, and a singularly beautiful play of colors. Tufts of feathers generally grow from the shoulders, and these, in some of the kinds, are prolonged so as to cover the wings; in the species sometimes called the Common Bird of Paradise, and sometimes the Great Emerald Bird of Paradise (Paradisea apoda), the prolongation of these shoulder tufts is so great, that they extend far beyond the body, and even far beyond the tail. They constitute the most magnificent part of the well known Bird of Paradise plumes. They are exquisitely light and delicate. It has been supposed that they may be of use to the creature in enabling it, with less exertion of wing, to float in the air, but this notion seems confuted by the total absence of them in the female.-In other species, there are elongated feathers on the back of the neck, which the bird can erect, and even in some measure throw forward at pleasure; and these, in the genus Lophorina.

Bird.-Skeleton of Fowl (exhibited in section): a, Brain cavity; b, Hyoid bone; c, Neck vertebræ; d, Clavicle; e, Interclavicle; f, Coracoid; g, Breastbone; h, Scapula: i, Humerus: k, Radius: 1, Ulna; m, Wrist; n, Thumb; o, United metacarpals; p. Second finger; q, Third finger; r. Ribs; s, Ilium; t, Ischium; u, Pubis; v, Plowshare-bone; w, Femur; x, Tibia; y, United metatarsals; z, Separate metatarsals; 1, 2, 3, 4, Toes,

Bird.-Breast-bone and Shoulder-girdle of Falcon: a, Clavicle; b, Scapular; c, Coracoid; d, Keel of sternum; e, Ribs.

Vol. 4.

BIRD OF PARIDISE.

sume a form resembling that of a pair of outspread wings, and rise far above the head. The tail is, in general, not unlike that of a crow in its shape; but in many species there arise from the rump, at the sides of the tail, two very long feathers, or rather filaments, covered with a sort of velvety down: of these, the Common Bird of Paradise affords an example. In the King Bird of Paradise (Cincinnurus regius), these long tail-filaments terminate in a sort of disk, as the tail-feathers of the peacock do.

Birds of Paradise are, in general, more or less gregarious. They sometimes pass in flocks from one island to another, according to the change of seasons from the dry to the wet monsoon. Owing to their plumage, they fly more easily against than with the wind, and by high winds they are sometimes thrown to the ground. They are lively and active, and in confinement pert and bold. They bestow great care upon their plumage, and sit always on the perches of the cage, so that no part of it may reach the floor, or get in the least degree soiled. It has seldom been found possible to bring them alive to Europe, and they seem very incapable of enduring any other than a tropical climate. In confinement, they are easily fed on rice, insects, etc. In a wild state, their food consists in great part of the fruit of the teak-tree, and of different species of fig, and also of the large butterflies which abound in their native islands.

The Papuans kill Birds of Paradise by shooting them with arrows and employ various other means of taking them for the sake of their skins. The skins are dried in smoke, and fumigated with sulphur to preserve them, from insects; and in this way the brilliancy of the color is impaired, so that the most gorgeous plumes which are ever seen in Europe are inferior, in this respect, to those of the living bird. The skin, to which great part of the flesh is allowed to remain attached, is always much contracted by this drying process, and a very erroneous notion is therefore often formed of the size of the bird. The common Bird of Paradise is as large as a jay. It is of a cinnamon color, the upper part of the head and neck yellow, the front and throat emerald green, the shoulder-tufts yellow. The whole length to the extremity of these is not less than two ft. Another nearly allied species (Paradisea rubra) has these long feathers of a brilliant carmine color.

BIRDS (Aves): the second class of vertebrated (q.v.) ani mals, and the first of oviparous vertebrated animals, including all the oviparous animals which have warm blood. B. exhibit great similarity in their general structure, and are sharply distinguished from all other classes of animals. To this class belong all animals, except Bats (q. v.), which have an internal skeleton, and are capable of true flight. The anterior extremities of B. serve them only as wings or organs of flight, and never in any degree as arms or legs; those few birds in which the wings are too small to raise the body in the air generally employ them to aid their swift running upon land, as the ostrich, or for swimming under water, as the great auk and the penguins. The body is covered with feathers (q.v.), and this is one of the characters in which all birds agree, and by which they are distinguished from all other animals. The general form is adapted to motion through the air, and the trunk is compact and somewhat boat-shaped. The vertebral column possesses little flexibility; indeed, the vertebræ of the back generally become anchylosed or firmly united together by cementing bone, the solidity which is thus acquired being of evident use for the support of the ribs, and these also are proportionately stronger than is usual in quadrupeds; each of them is provided in the middle with a flattened bony process, directed obliquely backwards to the next rib, so that they support one another, while instead of being united to the sternum, or breast-bone, by cartilages, as in quadrupeds, they are continued to it in the form of bone; all these things combining to give strength to that part of the body in which it is particularly needed, both in order to the powerful action of the wings, and the perfect freedom of respiration during flight. In those birds, however, which do not fly, the vertebræe of the back retain some power of motion. The hinder part of the vertebral column exhibits a solidity even greate than the anterior part of it, the lumbar vertebræ (q. v.) being consolidated into one piece with the pelvis (q.v.), which furnishes attachment to strong muscles for the support of the trunk upon the legs, and for the motion of these organs. The vertebral column, however, terminates in a number of small movable (coccygeal) vertebræ, the flexibility of this part being necessary to the motion of the tail, which is itself supported by a short and generally much elevated bone, regarded as consisting of anchylosed vertebræ, called the rump-bone, or, from its peculiar form, the plowshare-bone.

In contrast to the general stiffness of the vertebral column in the trunk, it is remarkable for great flexibility in the neck, enabling a bird to make ready use of its bill, or to bring its head into such positions as suit the adjustment of the centre of gravity in flying, standing, etc.

The number of vertebræ in the neck varies from 10 to 23, the smallest number being greater than is found in any quadruped. The head also is so articulated to the neck by a single condyle, or pivot, that a bird can turn its head round in a manner impossible to the mammalia. The skull itself is formed of bones corresponding with those of man and quadrupeds; but they can be distinguished only when